


Interlude in D

by Prismatic Bell (Nina_Dances_In_Technicolor)



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | All Media Types, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Abuse of the Luna Pen, Ami is an emotional drunk, Angst, Drunkenness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Universe Alterations, but also happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 10:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2504342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nina_Dances_In_Technicolor/pseuds/Prismatic%20Bell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crystal Tokyo is coming. Tonight, they dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interlude in D

**Author's Note:**

> AND NOW LET'S PLAY A GAME CALLED "WHO READ THE TAGS AND WHO DIDN'T?" You will be able to tell by the comments. Hopefully it'll be a good time for everyone involved.
> 
> I should really probably make a series for Crystal Tokyo-verse, but I want to give it a better name than "CT-Verse" first, so for now suffice to say _this is it, this is the beginning._ This comes before everything. That might change if I decide to go all the way back to the rebirth of the Shitennou, but it really can't get much earlier than this fic here.
> 
> A sidenote in regard to my liberal canon abuse: I freely cherrypick multiple canons to write this verse, and this is the first time it's gonna bite me. So without going into the ins and outs of each little thing I've picked out and from where, this verse uses a three-way timeline smashup--anything that occurs (chronologically) before Usagi and Mamoru are married should be assumed to be from the 1992 anime, but set in Crystal's time period (i.e. this fic would then take place around 2019); anything that occurs in or in regard to Crystal Tokyo (like the past Senshi getting to meet future Endymion) should be assumed to be anime-flavored manga. You don't need to have read/watched more than one source to read this series as long as you can accept weird blips (like the lack of the Big Freeze) as being a result of adaptational changes.
> 
> And finally: no, I have not forgotten _Just How To Be_. New chapter should be out by Halloween!

“Not dancing?”

Ami shakes her head and looks down into her glass. She should've stopped two drinks ago. On the karaoke stage, Minako bounces around and belts out some old pop tune: _I'm sorry I'm not honest, I can say that in dreams._ A good song for her night. “I'm surprised you're not.”

“I got tired.”

“That happens?” 

“Sometimes.” Zoisite grabs Ami's glass, drains what little is left in it, and waves at the serving girl. “Get her another one.” 

“No, I'm fine, really—“ Too late, and Ami sighs. “I'm already past my limit. I don't know what's gotten into me.”

“Have some fun, Ami-chan.”

It occurs to her, vaguely, that she doesn't remember Zoisite ever using her name in a casual way; the use of names actually offends him. He's called her _princess_ since before he remembered she was one. But then, she doesn't remember when he got here, either. She drowns the thought in a sip of her new drink. A big one.

“I wish Usagi were here. That's all.” She stirs the drink with the straw. It's probably not supposed to be stirred, but she doesn't care about that, either. “I know it's not going to be long before we all fight and—“ She wipes her eyes on her jacket sleeve. “I'm a terrible drunk. I'm sorry.”

“It's fine.”

“When we saw the future—the Senshi, I mean, you weren't—what I mean is that I saw myself,” she tells him. “But it wasn't me. I didn't recognize myself. I saw Mercury, but she was a stranger, and I—“ So much for discreetly hiding her tears in her sleeve. “I'm not _ready_. I know Minako's come to peace with it and everyone else seems to be doing so well, and I—I'm never going to be a doctor. I don't even know if I'm going to keep on being Ami.” She stares across the table at him. He looks far more concerned than she's used to Zoisite looking. Or it might just be the alcohol. “Doesn't it bother you? Knowing when we're all done you might wake up with your weapon in your hand not loving him anymore? Maybe not even remembering you ever did?”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“I mean Crystal Tokyo,” she says. “I mean us. All of us. Destiny. Even if we say no, there's the Silver Crystal, and when that's done—“ Her mouth is dry. She reaches for Mako's sensible glass of water—funny, isn't it, that it isn't her own—and nearly knocks it all over the table. “I mean that when we're purified, we'll just be Senshi and Shitennou. Nothing else left. Not even love.”

“Oh, _Ami-chan_ ,” Zoisite says, and folds Ami into a tight hug that leaves her scrambling for her henshin pen. Can she transform when she's drunk, or should she just scream? Zoisite's hand slaps down on top of hers, right on top of her pocket. _No!_

“Shh, nobody's supposed to know,” Zoisite's voice says, and then his other hand is in front of Ami's face, and—

_And the Luna Pen is in it, peeking out from his sleeve._

“U—Usagi-chan?”

Zoisite's face breaks into a grin not wolfish enough to be his own. “Mamo-chan said it was dangerous, but I wasn't going to miss one last night out with you all. I don't think you're right about Crystal Tokyo, but things _will_ change, so we should have fun while we can, right?”

Ami rests her face on Usagi's shoulder and cries. One last night. They can all feel it in the air; Rei says the fire speaks it to her. Ami feels it in the rain. That great battle might be a few weeks away, maybe as much as a season, but no more than that. Usagi's arms stay staunchly around Ami's shoulders.

“You don't really think that, do you? That we're all just going to be a bunch of robots who don't remember each other?”

“You saw us,” Ami hiccups. “You saw what we were like.”

“Well . . . “ Usagi stretches the word out, rolls it over her tongue like a noodle she has to bite before she can swallow it. “I know what we _were_ like. But I don't think we'll be that way anymore.”

“That doesn't make any sense, Usagi, it was the _future_ —“

“But that's the great thing about the future, you can always change it!” Usagi chirps. “And—are you sure you're okay, Ami-chan? Do you need to go home?”

“I'm going to feel like death in the morning,” Ami says. “But I'm all right for now. I could use some water.”

Usagi takes Mako's glass and plops a straw into it before holding it for Ami to drink. Ami feels her face burn hot: starting the rest of her life as a professional Sailor Senshi by getting so drunk her charge has to give her water so she won't spill. Impressive.

“I think we were supposed to see that future,” Usagi says, and Ami stares at her.

“Usagi, you—you remember,” she says. “What Pluto said. About the door, it's forbidden.”

“Uh-huh, but Pluto's _also_ supposed to be able to see everything, so how did she just miss Chibi-Usa taking a key _and_ opening the Time Gate?”

Ami stares at her, mouth open, wondering how Usagi thought of that and she didn't. Usagi nudges the waterglass. Ami sips it. “You think we—?”

“She was warning us. Because what's the point of a future if people can't be happy? I don't want to make all the same mistakes over again. But it's going to be different this time, Ami-chan. Because now we _know._ We're going to remake Silver Millennium and then you're going to become the best doctor ever.”

“If there's time between threats.”

“We have the Shitennou now.”

If they don't die, Ami thinks but doesn't say. If we don't lose them again. They're not friends—not in the way all of the girls are—but Ami knows her heart would break to see those caskets, their redemption earned only in death after they've struggled so long. Usagi hugs her again.

“Stop thinking awful things and have _fun_ , Ami-chan! Don't make me order you!”

Ami feels a laugh startled out of her. Usagi wipes her face with a wet napkin. “What should we do? I can't sing.”

“Mmmm.” Usagi puts a finger on the corner of her mouth and nibbles the nail. “I know!” She pulls Ami out of the booth. Ami stumbles and slams into Usagi's chest. At her own size, she'd fall on the floor; in Zoisite's body she just staggers, then laughs. “Let's dance.”

“I'm not going to be any good.”

“I won't either, I don't know how to lead. Doesn't matter!”

“Do you suppose _Zoisite_ knows? You'll blow your own cover, Usagi-chan.”

Usagi frowns. “He might.” The frown disappears. “But nobody here knows that!” And she spins Ami so fast they both almost end up on the floor. 

Ami hears someone call Minako's name. Her turn at karaoke again. 

Someone bumps into Ami from behind, and then Mako cuts in.

“Mako-chan, you're taking _my turn!_ ”

Ami starts laughing; tomorrow she'll worry, but tonight she's with her friends, and maybe Usagi is right: maybe her fears are just phantoms. On the stage, Minako sings.

_Even if you're in pitch-black darkness, you're not alone, you know? The moonlight illuminates us!_

A much better song for her night.


End file.
